The Bible records that this Second Adam was first greeted by Mary, who of all the disciples was a fit example of His fledgling church/bride. It was Mary who was first to the tomb. It was Mary who loved much because she knew she had been forgiven much. It was she who poured out her love & gratitude upon Him in the form of the oil and her tears for what He had done for her. It was Mary who fittingly represents the effectual working of that precious blood that flowed from His side to cleanse her of her sins; and the water that likewise flowed that gave her new life in Christ. Truly, Mary is a fitting representation of the Bride brought forth from His side by the power of God.
This analogy of marriage with the church or God’s people is one that weaves its way all through the OT. We read that “..your Maker is your husband...” (Isa.54:5); “..though I was a husband to them, says the Lord...” (Jer.31:32); “Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me” (Jer 3:20) ; to say nothing of the whole Song Of Solomon which is a beautiful allegory of Christ & His Bride. We see it in the NT as well, where Jesus is called the ‘Bridegroom’ in Jn.3:29; fittingly beginning His Ministry with His first miracle at a wedding feast (Jn.2:1-11); is seen as the Bridegroom again in the parable of the 10 virgins asleep; the Son whose Father invites all to a wedding feast; and Paul ‘..betroths us to one Husband, even to Christ...’.
And finally, mirroring the many parallels that Genesis has with Revelation, (e.g.: creation - recreation; tree of life removed - tree of life restored; a prepared place, garden of Eden - a prepared place, New Jerusalem; mark of Cain - Mark of the Beast; bride of Adam — bride of the Lamb; etc...), we see the Bride/Church having ‘..made herself ready...’ in Rev.19. She has by this time in the final events of Earth’s history, accomplished her task of being Christ’s ‘helpmeet’ in the goal of being fruitful & multiplying, winning souls into the family, the kingdom of God.
What is fascinating is that, when God said “Let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them...” (Ex.25:8), He was really continuing the process of becoming one with His bride/church that satan had circumvented by the introduction of sin. Then, when Jesus came, He reiterated the fact that He and the Father were one, and that He wanted His entire church to be one in Him & in the Father (Jn.17:22-23). This oneness harkens back to the promise of Gen.2:24 pronounced upon a perfect Adam & Eve. The awesome destiny of mankind has always been to be restored to this oneness that God promised in the typology of Adam & Eve’s marriage.
In the above typology, the only way it works, is that the Husband performs His function in the relationship, & the Bride performs her’s. God is the Savior/provider Husband, and the Bride is the recipient/fruit bearer of His love. The Bride willingly submits to her Husband because she knows all that she is comes from Him (Eve coming from Adam’s side), and out of shear joy & love she bears fruit to glorify that supreme truth. That’s why in 1 Cor.11:1-9 Paul systematically shows us the relationships of Father to Son, Son to man, and man to woman in what is called the headship principle.
Why? Because the submission of the woman to man is the typology of the Bride/Church to the Husband/Christ. In fact, Paul seeks to encourage women by pointing out that Christ Himself has entered into this very typology with His Father, willingly submitting to Him for the purpose of saving mankind. Christ, who is God in verity, chooses to willingly submit, to step down from glory, to fulfill the function He and the Father planned that He should fulfill.
The incredibly high calling of women is such that they, of the all the human race, have been given the privilege & honor of emulating Christ in His salvific relationship with His Father! The ‘helpmeet’ of Gen 2:18 that is described & functionally named (i.e., ‘helpmeet’) by God to be the forthcoming Eve, is a reflection of this relationship Christ willingly stepped into: not the head, in charge, but one to help fulfill the overall purpose of mankind. This typology of Christ helping His Father accomplish Their task of saving mankind is an exact parallel to Eve with Adam. It is important to remember that it is not Adam that is called the ‘helpmeet’, it is Eve. Her function is defined by God Himself. This is the beauty of what Paul lays out for us in I Cor.11:1-9.
While none of us would even remotely suggest that this willing submission on Christ’s part to His Father makes Him ‘the lesser God’ or somehow inferior or second class, this is unfortunately what many are saying about modern day ‘Eves’ if they should somehow ‘be forced’ into this headship principle. What a sad day it would be for us if we should choose not to reflect what God has chosen for us to reflect! Here we see a parallel echo in a well known Ellen White statement in Patriarchs & Prophets, p.59:
“Eve had been perfectly happy by her husband's side in her Eden home; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered with the hope of entering a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. In attempting to rise above her original position, she fell far below it. A similar result will be reached by all who are unwilling to take up cheerfully their life duties in accordance with God's plan. In their efforts to reach positions for which He has not fitted them, many are leaving vacant the place where they might be a blessing. In their desire for a higher sphere, many have sacrificed true womanly dignity and nobility of character, and have left undone the very work that Heaven appointed them.”
It is very clear from this statement that Sister White understood this concept that God Himself had appointed a function for man & woman from the very beginning. It was “..their life duties in accordance with God's plan...”. That function and typology we have been talking about is wonderfully consummated in the book of Revelation. While the entire Bible reveals the typology of Christ/Husband, Church/Bride in a variety of ways, Revelation brings it all together in a startling conclusion.
What we see is an amazing condescension by our very Creator to enter into the stream of time and space to become one of His creatures for the sake of redeeming them, and to never divorce Himself from that connection! Using the typology of marriage from the very beginning of His relationship with His creatures, He opens up to all eyes the consummation of that type in the pages of Revelation. What was to be the purpose of that relationship, as viewed from the instructions given to Adam & Eve? Gen 1:28,
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
In Revelation we see the fruit of the married relationship of Christ with His Bride, the Church, in Rev.7:9-10 “..a vast multitude which no one could number...”; that they are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev.19:9). God’s command in Gen.1:28 is wonderfully fulfilled in the type of Rev.7:9-10, the fruit of the marriage of Christ & the Church. I have used adjectives earlier such as ‘stunning, amazing, incredible, awesome..’ to describe this typological pattern & destiny. But here is where the superlatives should really fail us.
Again, echoing the promise to Adam & Eve that ‘..the two shall become one...’, E.G. White says this in Desire Of Ages, p.25 :
“By His life and His death, Christ has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son." John 3:16. He gave Him not only to bear our sins, and to die as our sacrifice; He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure us of His immutable counsel of peace, God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature.”
This is the fulfilling of the anti-type of marriage, the two shall become one! Adam & Eve represented this; the reality was always to point to Christ & His Bride!
And finally, the over-arching purpose of the marriage typology from Gen. to Rev. is seen in the graciously, magnanimous consummation of Rev. 21&22, where the control room of the Universe is moved from ‘Heaven’ to Earth where God is to be eternally with the redeemed. Why? Here is the reason:
“Thus it is that God desire s to fulfill for us His purpose of grace. By the power of His love, through obedience, fallen man, a worm of the dust, is to be transformed, fitted to be a member of the heavenly family, a companion through eternal ages of God and Christ and the holy angels. Heaven will triumph, for the vacancies made by the fall of Satan and his host will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord.”--Manuscript 21, Feb. 16, 1900, "God's Love Manifested." {Upward Look, p. 61}
And another:
“God created man for His own glory, that after test and trial the human family might become one with the heavenly family. It was God's purpose to repopulate heaven with the human family, if they would show themselves obedient to His every word. Adam was to be tested, to see whether he would be obedient, as the loyal angels, or disobedient.”—Vol.1 Bible Commentary, p. 1082.
This is the real Theology behind the theology! This is what should inform our discussions of ordination and the role of men and women in the Church. Cultural male chauvinism it is not. It is a divinely inspired plan that we would do well to emulate, because it's the raison d'etre for Mankind. It lifts up the woman to her God-given destiny. If only we would choose today to reflect this fantastic typology, engraved into our very biological and spiritual DNA.
What an incredibly high calling is ours, whether male or female, to reflect what Adam was ordained to reflect, or what Eve was ordained to reflect. And how far we are falling when we ascribe to the Bible human, cultural motives for this amazingly inspired plan. The supposedly domineering male cultural bias of the Bible is in fact God-ordained. Jesus tried to tell us of this in Jn. 5:39 where, speaking of the Scriptures He said, “These are they which testify of Me.” The man created first, the male pronouns, the male priests, the male genealogies, the male census lists, etc., etc., are all pointing us to the Bridegroom Jesus Christ! And, as He walks through human history we see His amazing relationship with His human bride, who comes forth from Him to eventually, after the power of His blood has done its work, replace the fallen angels.
May God help us to behold these spiritual things through spiritual eyes and not miss the unbelievable destiny that God has planned for us.
Bob Stewart is a pastor in Michigan.